A Spectacular Journey
by Cass-The-Poochyena
Summary: I'm Cass, a shiny poochyena who's been taken away from home. My goal is to travel back home with the help of my new friends; a growlithe named Rex and an eevee named Sophia. Follow our journey back home, if we ever make it there. (Rated T for minor cursing and some instances of variously intense gore)
1. Prologue

My name is Cass, I'm a poochyena. I have always been special. My fur, rather than being grey, is brown. Everyone noticed that I was different from my four siblings from the second they looked at us. Their eyes were all a striking red, whereas mine were a brilliant blue. Worried, my parents took me to a chansey nearby. The chansey explained that I was a 'shiny' and warned my parents to keep me away from wandering trainers, as they'd be more apt to catch me rather than cause me to faint.

As any loving parent would do, they forced me to live in the den. I did, of course, sneak out to gain some experience and levelled up a bit. I had hoped against hope that if I became strong enough, they'd let me out so I could defend myself. That chance never came.


	2. Chapter 1 - Captured

One night I snuck out, fighting some weaker pokemon as usual. I had just reached level seven when I was challenged. A scyther appeared before me in a flash of red light, leaning forward and ready for battle.

I leaned back, frightened. For a split second, I wished my ability was run away, but sadly, I had quick feet. My tail stuck between my legs and I tried to manage a menacing flash of my fangs. I prepared a tackle, but a false swipe knocked me onto my side, taking my health down to one. Staggering, I stood up and flattened my ears. My tackle missed and I tripped and fell down once more.

Something hit my shoulder and I found myself alone in the dark. "No, no!" I yowled, ramming into hard walls all around me and fighting desperately to escape my new prison. A sharp, loud click echoed throughout the area and I knew it was over. I'd been captured.

The walls became transparent and I could see what was happening outside. A man was leaning down and patting the scyther on the head before replacing it in its prison. I sat awake, my ears folded down. The man was walking and my world was shaking, I fought to grab a hold, but my claws slid on the titanium interior and I was at the whim of my prison.

After about ten minutes of skidding around the ball, my captor stopped. "Did you get anything?" Another voice asked, I lifted my head to see the owner of the voice. She was tall, her brown hair going down to her waist. Her cold gaze was made even colder by her icy blue eyes caged behind plain glasses.

"Hell yeah I did." My captor's voice was rough, and suddenly his hand was around my prison. Suddenly I found myself face down on the cold earth.

"Nice job, rookie." The woman said, I could practically hear the smirk in her tone. "Put it with the others."

Wordlessly, I was picked up. I thrashed about wildly, making frantic noises of distress. I was roughly thrown into a large cage which was sat upon a trailer behind a shiny red truck. I yelped as I hit the wall, my vision clouding momentarily. My captor wasn't even looking at me.

"Hey, you alright?" A voice called from the darkness. It had a pre-pubescent air to it, cracking on the word 'alright.'

I whipped my head around to the direction of the voice, but saw nothing until a small burst of flame illuminated the area. "I've been better." I muttered, putting my head on my paws while continuing to look at the flame.

The flame vanished, "It'll be okay, I think we'll get out of this." The flame reappeared.

"What even is 'this'?" I glared, flattening my ears.

"I'm not quite sure." The voice said, the flame disappearing and reappearing once again.

"For arceus' sake, burn this leaf." A female voice said from the darkness behind the flame. Shuffling ensued.

A flash of light illuminated the metal cage. I blinked at the two other pokemon who shared my fate. One was a growlithe, his fur was a golden yellow. The other was a silvery eevee, whose eyes shown in the fire light.

"Well, we all have one thing in common." I gave a sarcastic laugh, which was met with confusion.

"What?" The growlithe asked, cocking his head to one side.

"We're all shinies. All of us are discolored from the other pokemon of our species. Trainers have a high want for us for some reason." I explained quickly.

"Well, that makes more sense." The eevee said softly, her soft eyes were sullen as she turned to peer into the dark forest. The trees that had once been home now seemed more like gnarled claws reaching out to capture us.

The growlithe let out a loud snarl, fire shooting out of his mouth in a small column. His eyes hardened in rage. "No, this can't be happening! We have to get out of here!"

The eevee opened her mouth to talk, but closed it quickly as the enraged growlithe continued, "I need to get back home! I need to protect my little brother! I can't be taken away!" He sat down and his snout turned to the ground, "I'm all he has."

"Hey, it'll be fine. We'll get out of here." The eevee said soothingly, "You'll be back before your brother even realizes you're gone."

Suddenly, the trailer jerked, rolling the flaming leaf off of it. We were suddenly showered in darkness. "We're moving." The eevee breathed, her voice hardly heard over the sound of tires on dirt. Trying to get a grip on the metal floor with my claws, I slid around until one of my paws hit a patch of rust, catching me.

I heard the other captives scramble around, but I didn't see them until the truck drove onto regular road and streetlights illuminated the area. The growlithe was grabbing one of the horizontal side bars with his teeth, craning his neck so he wouldn't let go. The eevee had curled up on the floor in the corner, packed tightly enough that she wasn't sliding.

We stayed like this for a long time, so long that one of my claws had been wrenched out and a slight trickle of blood was casually dripping from my paw. I fought to stay holding on with the remaining two claws, gritting my teeth and shutting my eyes tightly. I kept them closed even when the truck stopped. I couldn't seem to unclench my body.

A bright light showered over us that was much harsher than the streetlights, hurting my eyes even through my eyelids. I dared not open my eyes. There were two voices, that of a gruff man and that of the woman that had been with my captor.

"This is all?" The man was asking.

"They're starting to evade us, they're getting smarter." The woman said grimly.

"Emily, they're just pokemon. They don't have thoughts. They're stupid!" The man laughed loudly, but it was not a cheery laugh. I cowered away from the voice.

"Whatever, we can still sell them at the market tomorrow." The woman, Emily, responded. She sounded hurt in a way that made it seem like he had personally offended her.

"Alright, alright. Put 'em with the others." The man growled.

Next thing I knew, I was being roughly grabbed. Fur smushed up against me and I finally opened my eyes, which were immediately blinded by the light. When they adjusted, my eyes saw that the growlithe, the eevee, and myself had all been roughly grabbed up in the woman's arms.

Where was she carrying us? The urge to cry was overwhelming and I did let out a small whimper. The eevee comfortingly rubbed against me to the best of her abilities, but we were already pretty packed together and her skin uncomfortably rubbed against mine.

Emily entered a dark room and when she turned on that light, which wasn't as bright as the previous one, I was amazed by what I saw. My eyes widened and my jaw hung down. This wasn't what I had expected to see at all.

In fact, it was much, much worse.


	3. Chapter 2 - Cruelty

_**WARNING – THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS QUITE AN INTENSE AMOUNT OF GORE THAT MAY NOT BE FOR THE WEAK STOMACHED.**__(The gore paragraphs will be marked by having the first word bolded, so you may skip them easily if need be).  
_A/N: Sorry, but I reread it and cringed, so I figured it may be a bit much but I like that part a lot, so yeah… Sorry /).(\

There were shiny pokemon everywhere! There had to be over a hundred of them! We were roughly thrown into one of the empty cages on the walls. This place looked more like a jail than anything.

The eevee sighed, "You know, when I was captured I was hoping that I would be taken home as a new trainer's starter, or a valuable asset to a team. I didn't expect anything like this."

"None of us did." A voice said from the cage beside us. A meowth stared at us with sullen eyes. It looked normal aside from the brown parts that usually accented its peach fur were a light pink. She had a soft voice and I felt like she'd been in here for a long time, "What're your names?" She appeared to be trying to change the subject, but it was a weak attempt at best.

"I'm Sophie." The eevee said with a cheerful demeanor.

"Rex." The growlithe snorted.

"Uh…Cass." I flattened my ears in shyness. "Where are we?"

The meowth sighed, "Well, I'm Rose. And you're in the storage room of the Shiny Hunters. They catch all the shiny pokemon they can find and then sell them. What happens to the sold pokemon can range from just becoming a member of a team to being skinned and turned into a coat."

Sophie gasped, leaning back "Sk-skinned?!"

Rose nodded grimly, "Skinned. I've seen some terrible things. See, no one really wants a shiny that looks almost the same as a regular one. What's the point of paying so much, right? For something that hardly looks different from the real thing." She scoffed, "My time's almost up, and they release the ones that don't sell within a month. I'm hoping they release me tonight rather than tomorrow. I can't bear seeing markets anymore."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and a boy walked in who was probably in his early teens. His hair was windblown and brown, his eyes were the cold, hard grey of steel. He had a small piece of paper with him, which he read aloud; "Meowth, Pidove. Only two this time? Damn." He strode over to Rose's cage and grabbed her out by the scruff.

As she yowled in pain, he gave a twisted smile. "Yeah, yeah, keep cryin'. No one's comin' to save you." He slammed her down on the ground and I heard a crack as Rose let out an ear piercing yowl.

The man strode over and plucked out a pidove from another cage, "What?! This thing isn't even shiny!" He spat on it in disgust and moved to the window, holding it by the legs. He tossed it out and wiped his hand on his pants.

"Guess you're the star tonight, hun." He prowled back over to Rose and grinned, "I'm not supposed to do this in the room, lest I 'upset the others,' but I'm sure they can make an exception if there's only one."

"I have a bad feeling that the ones that don't sell don't get released." Rex whispered. He didn't appear frightened, but his eyes were wide with pure terror.

**The** man drew a knife from his belt, stooping down to kneel beside Rose, who tried to flail but only let out more squawks of pain. The man gave a soft snicker. He blocked my view from the scene, but I could still hear the sickening sound of steel on skin and the traumatizing sounds of Rose giving yowls of pain.

When the man stood, he licked his blade, not even giving his handiwork a glance before turning and leaving, slamming the door behind him.

I took a look at Rose and immediately wished I hadn't. The jewel upon her face was removed, causing blood to run into her wide pink eyes, the skin between them was shredded. Her hind legs had been hacked down to nubs. Her tail had been altogether removed as well.

**That's** when I noticed the worst thing, she was twitching. Rose was still alive. I leaned forward until my face was pressed to the metallic mesh of the cage. The dying meowth's eyes met mine, filled with pain and regret. As the light faded from her eyes, I did what my pack would usually do for a fallen member, I turned my head to the ceiling and let out the most soulful howl I could. It was said that the howl would follow a soul to the afterlife, guiding the frightened fallen.

"What's all the racket?!" Emily burst in, glaring around. Her eyes fell to Rose, "Ugh! Nasty!" She turned back to the hallway behind her, "Rick! What the fuck?!" She turned back and rolled her eyes, stepping forward in large strides. She looked disgusted as she picked Rose up. When she turned, she dumped the body directly into a trash bag. The door shut behind her as she left, yelling incoherently.

Although the body was out of sight, the concrete floor still had stains of blood. I turned to the window and saw that morning was coming, but also that the released pidove had seen the ordeal and was shocked into paralyzation. I felt my stomach clench and turned my back from the gory scene. "What is this horrible place?" I whispered so softly that I'm sure I'm the only one who heard.

In a daze, I laid down and put my head on my paws, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the dying light in Rose's eyes. I remembered her voice "'I hope they release me tonight rather than tomorrow. I can't bear seeing markets anymore.'"

The room was silent for a long time. No one dared to speak. There was the occasional sound of a pokemon throwing up or sobbing or awaking from a nightmare and screaming. Ears back, I waited through the dawn, hoping I could escape this terrible place.

Later, I don't know how much later, but two people burst into the room, the sound of the door blasting open caused most of the pokemon in the room to fidget and chatter in fright. A voice from the hallway spoke, "Load up the cages, boys, we gotta get to Saffron before noon."

"Got it boss." One of the trainers nodded, and he and his partner began to grab cages and carry them out, clanking heard every time they loaded one of the cages. When they got to ours, they grabbed it roughly, shaking Rex, Sophie, and I all around enough that none of us tried standing. He walked quickly to a large semi-truck, where he tossed the cage.

I looked around, one of the cages nearby contained five or six zubats. They had to be cramped, because our cage was packed as it was and there were only three of us. Another cage held a pikachu, cradling a pichu in her arms. Yet another cage held a pitiful looking absol, who tried desperately to make more room, but his fur stuck out from some of the holes in the cage. All the pokemon were shiny.

Suddenly, it was dark. Panicked voices rose as we heard a door slam and an engine start. An ampharos near the center of the truck illuminated its tail, bathing us all in a soft glow. As I continued looking around, I noted that many of the pokemon were lethargic and scrawny. Ribs jutted out from sides and fur was sparse in areas. Eyes were sunken and bleak and voices were low and sullen.

The truck drove and there were voices now emanating from everywhere, reverberating around the steel walls until it began to hurt my ears, I pawed at them idly. After yet another eternity, the truck hatch was opened and cages were being unloaded. As we were taken out by the much kinder hands of a child who was maybe eleven, the fresh air was a great change from the stuffy scent of other pokemon.

Small tent-like things were set up, covering cages upon cages of pokemon ranging from rattatas to large flygons that weren't even in cages, simply chained to tables. People wandered around, 'ooh'-ing and 'ahh'- ing at the various types of pokemon.

"Hey, guys." Rex said, "Come here."

When we wandered over, he continued, "Look real cute, and if someone wants one of us, they'll have to open the cage, then we all jump out and make a break for it."

"Which way do we go?" Sophie asked softly, "We can't all run different directions and hope to end up in the same place."

"Alright, here. Cass, you run that way." He pointed with a claw down the row of cages, "Sophie, you run that way." He pointed directly across from us, "And I'll run that way." He pointed near the semi-truck that had brought us here. "We meet at the pokecenter."

"Where's that?" I asked, flattening my ears, "I've never been to Saffron."

"Alright. Scratch that idea then." Rex huffed, "We'll meet over in that forest." He once again pointed, this time straight ahead down Sophie's path. "There's a mossy rock down there, we'll meet there. Sophie, if you don't want to evolve into a leafeon, I suggest you not train while you wait for us."

"Sounds good." Sophie nodded, "And thanks for the tip, I almost forgot about that!"

"No problem." Rex responded, giving a doggish smile.

Then, it was game time. The three of us rushed up to the wall of the cage every time a person happened by, shoving over each other to make it there first. Children giggled and even older people had to smile as we all yipped and pawed at each other.

A young woman seemed to be staying longer than the others, she spoke to one of our captors, who nodded and smiled. He reached for the cage and unlatched it, releasing all hell. The three of us jumped out, sprinting in our designated directions. I didn't look back, knowing that it'd slow me down.

I darted between legs and over benches, panic and adrenaline causing me to push myself even hard, I panted loudly. People pointed and were wide eyed as I galloped away, now heading for the forest. I'd left the market and was now galloping on the roads of Saffron. Glancing over, I thought I saw a blur of goldish yellow on the far side of Saffron.

When I reached the forest, paws aching and out of breath, I slowed to a walk. The cool moss feeling like heaven for my paws. I saw the mossy rock through a few trees, but no Sophie of Rex. I whined softly as I sat by it, licking at my paws, which were chapped and bloody.

Suddenly, Sophie appeared from the underbrush, "Oh thank arceus, you're alive. Where's Rex?" She looked around with wide eyes.

"I thought I saw him running here just a few minutes ago. Maybe he slowed down when he reached the forest like I did." I said, but I was worried about the growlithe.

"Hey guys, don't rejoice yet, they're heading this way." Rex said, bursting into the clearing and crossing it without stopping. Sophie and I looked at each other and followed quickly.

It was easier for my paws to run on moss, albeit a lot slower. My tail drooped as we ran on, but despite our efforts, I heard an engine behind us. Rex and Sophie whirled around ahead of me, so I did as well. There were three trainers before us, all I recognized as the Shiny Hunters. One reached for me and I jumped to the side, reacting too slow. They got me by my hind paws.

I flailed wildly, slashing out my front legs with claws out. That is, until they grabbed those two and held me upside down. Sophie, below us, was snarling a very long and elaborate threat in her usual formal demeanor. "Alright, last warning! Release her!" She snarled, "One. Two…Three!" She jumped up and her teeth embedded into my captor's arm.

Letting out a screech, he released me. "Run!" Sophie screeched at me and Rex.

"But-" I began, but was cut off by Sophie, who was now caught by only one hind leg.

"Run! I'll catch up!" She snarled in a way that forced me to turn and run, following Rex into the forest.

We waited in a bush for only a few moments when Sophie came running, Rex leaned forward so she could see his head and she dove into the bush beside us. "Are you okay?" I asked, rushing up to her and furiously sniffing at her.

"Y-yeah, but, I think I broke my leg." She looked back at her left hind leg, which she held above the ground, putting it down sometimes to regain her balance, only to wince and pull it back up.

"I think the tree over there is hollow, let's get in there and see if we can get you bandaged up." Rex said, letting her lean on him as she began to limp towards the tree hollow. Behind us, humans shouted to each other loudly. They seemed so close that they could stumble upon us at any second. I sent a silent prayer to arceus and hoped he'd keep us safe from now on.


End file.
